Well the point is not that though – its all about me going to Blossoms today! Yippeee!!!! And as usual exceeded the budget. The best Bahana I was thinking of came up in the form of my Friend’s Daughter’s 2nd Bday in a couple of weeks and she was cribbing that everyone only gives toys and clothes. So I decided to give her what else – but books :-). So well, today morning I left Chuktu in the office Day care as usual, had breakfast and set out to Blossoms. I had some 6 books that I had bought there last time and didnt think I should continue to keep them – so I returned them and earned 300rs 🙂 Good na? Thats the best part of the place – they take back their own books at 50% of the cost and other books at (I think) 40%. I first decided to buy books for the present and picked up loads of books and then sorted them out to include some 4 books – -First letters/1-10 numbers with sliding panel/baby animals/first words. -And the little girl Loves Kanha on cartoon network – so I picked one book on Krishna, -1 coloring book,1 Good Night stories book and 1 book of Panchatantra from ACK. So in all I think I just about covered everything to last her for an year 🙂 – It all cost me about 660rs.

And then I began to pick up stuff for me. I remember when we first began to go to Blossoms we shopped like crazy sometimes buying stuff for 5000Rs. And so we made a deal – 1000 for each one of us. And the best part was that I also read what ever hubby picked up too 🙂 – All the Ken Follets/David Baldacci/Robert Ludlum and Jeffery Archers. So this time I picked up The latest Jeffery ArcherChanakya’s Chant – After reading the reviews here on the blog sphere, Sudha Murthy’s Dollar Bride (Have read all her short stories collection and liking them – both Hubby and I) I want to read Mahasweta too – next time, Salman Rushdie’s East and West (This was the smallest book that I could find and I wanted to first read and see if I would like it before I began the others)Khushwant Singh’s The Company of Women (Had heard a lot about this book -so I thought if I want to start with a new author I will pick up something interesting :-p) Charles Dickens Great Expectations – I also took David Copperfield but then found a couple of pages missing in it so dropped it – next time 🙂Penny Jordan – forget the name now 😦 And then billed them all.Guess what! All this was just 1660 bucks! So I called hubby and made a deal with him that Im going to spend another 400 ish and make it a round figure of 2K! 😀 And went hunting again. This time I saw the latest Marian Keyes/Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steele but then guess what I found!!! I found the entire collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales for just 475 rs! wow! I have always loved fairy tales – so I dropped all my other books and just picked up this one 😀 And I’ve asked the owner to let me know when he gets the Rupa publications “Thousand nights and one night” all volumes of Arabian nights. I’ve been searching for 1 which is in simple english. They always seem to not have all the volumes. Hoping they will give me a call soon…

On the Aside:

1. In all my life this is the first time I went out like this all alone and it felt Oh.So.Good! 🙂 Im going to definitely do it again! 2.Volvo buses Rock! They are plenty – so one doesn’t have to wait for long. All the way from Whitefield to Lifestyle/Mayo Hall. They are cool and they are hardly crowded! Suuper! BMTC has really done a great job 3. I walked after a really long time. From Lifestyle to Blossoms and then from Blossoms to Mayo Hall back – and the walk back was more strenuous thanks to the load of books – Man! Those chotu board books ARE heavy! Especially if you are walking back with 6 of them at 1.30 in the afternoon without lunch… 4.With Peter Andre,J.Lo, Tony Braxton and Bryan Adams giving me company on the Ipod – it was a great journey too! (Oh Yeah! And the new Fast Track sunglasses from hubby as Valentine’s day gift helped too!)5. I always, always, always over shoot the budget with books 😦 This time – just about managed to stick to it…6. Finally, to the lady in the bus: Im sorry, I really dont comment on people and their dressing sense but I couldn’t control this: Its not because you are fat (Im not thin either and neither do I have a great dressing sense) but PLEASE don’t just blindly wear whatever you get from your wardrobe – A parrot green top and a light pink loop ear-rings DO NOT MATCH with a black and white wrap around. AND I hope you have 1 sincere friend who will tell you that wrap around skirt is not for people with waist larger than 34!

A memory: I remember when I was around 13/14, the Reader’s Digest was due for another annual subscription renewal around the time of my Bday. Mom was talking about going out to buy new clothes and suddenly Dad said: You cant get both – new clothes and Reader’s Digest. Think about it and tell me what you want by tomorrow – either book or Clothes. But I immediately replied that I wanted the book. Dad was soo happy that I understood the value of books and reading that he got me both 😀